This gap between wages and house prices makes it harder and harder for first-time buyers to get on the ladder in the first place. Huge numbers of young people are now finding themselves priced out of home ownership altogether, forced into a life of private renting.

These issues are closely linked. A lack of homes leads to prices rising. In order to buy a home, people have to take out higher, riskier loans. When the banks hand out these risky loans, it pushes the prices up even further – and the cycle continues. Watch our video to see how this vicious circle started:

The government says they want to increase the number of people who own their homes. We believe that to do this, they have to make sure that:

home ownership is made less risky

lending is made more affordable

that homeowners have access to a decent safety net and free, impartial advice

But if we want to end this cycle of bust and boom for good, we need to address the underlying problem: we need to build more affordable homes.

Getting advice

There are two moments where it is extremely important mortgage borrowers get sound independent financial advice: